Anyone with experience of cerebral palsy?

[Vick99]

Just wondering if anyone could tell me if anything about my daughter might line up with very mild cerebral palsy – she’s almost 4, so I guess it would have been picked up by now, but my mum instinct tells me something is slightly off and I’m struggling to put my finger on what.

To give the background, she had a difficult final few weeks in the womb, had a difficult birth with placental abruption, very low heart rate during birth and oxygen deprivation. A few things which might be relevant:

• She has epilepsy which nowadays is very intermittent but as a baby was severe (many types of seizure, first noticed around 3 months)
• MRI scan normal
• Had severe silent reflux as a baby, medicated until 13 months
• Met motor milestones as a baby within normal timescales (sat at 8 months, crawled at 11, walked at 15)
• Showed strong right-hand preference even as a baby
• Never babbled as a baby and has been a late talker, catching up well recently but speech quite unclear
• Walks very slowly and reluctantly. Clumsy gait, usually wants to hold hands and pulls down on my hand, as if for support
• Very poor running gait, legs uncoordinated, left arm held up with hand hanging limp
• Gets tired easily
• Clumsy and seems poor judge of distance – e.g. until recently, she would thrust books or toys at my face
• Wears glasses for long sight, slight squint which will probably need patching in next couple of months
• Hates loud noises
• Very messy eater – still has to wear bib
• Not fully toilet trained – has used loo/potty for 8 months but still only says she needs a wee when she’s already started. Not showing any improvement in this area.
• Sociable and reasonably confident, but a bit "young" socially – only just beginning to play with other children
• Very imaginative and good at playing
• Generally seems young for her age and different from other children in a way I can’t quite put my finger on – lacking understanding and awareness maybe?

Sorry about the massive list. Any thoughts much appreciated! I don’t want to bother the GP if I’m just overthinking things, but if she could benefit from physiotherapy etc it’s obviously good to get it in place asap. Thanks for reading.

Bother your Gp. What you describe above cause possibly be mild cp. Whatever the cause she sounds like she would benefit from SALT/Physio and OT. Intervention prior to starting school is good to make sure she has support.

I second bothering your GP. No experience of CP, but I had similar concerns about DS when he was younger - he shared many (but not all) of the things on your list. Had you considered dyspraxia? Not diagnosed until they are a bit older, but might be a possibility?

If I remember rightly, DS had quite a big improvement in his motor skills between the ages of 4 and 5. He didn't 'catch up' with his peers, but he came on a great deal.

Belated thanks @Cocolemon and @landofgiants. I've finally plucked up the courage to make a GP appointment who I hope will give us a paediatrician referral. I've looked into dyspraxia in the past, @Cocolemon - she does have quite a few of the traits but there a few where she's the opposite. Hopefully the doctor will have some useful thoughts!

I would bother your GP and try and get an occupational therapy referral, which might have to go through the paediatrician first, I'm not sure. Could be CP (some aspects sound similar to one of my DC who has mild hemiplegia, and hypermobility). Could also be sensory, some of the things you describe sound like they might also benefit from investigating from a sensory perspective, specifically proprioception. The reaction to loud noises makes me think that too.

Thanks @MutteringDarkly, that's v helpful. I've just looked up proprioception (didn't even know what that meant!) and hypermobility - actually my daughter has quite a few of the signs of it - but not stretchy skin. So many possibilities! At least I might be on the road to getting to the bottom of it now.

Just to update this thread, in case anyone finds it in the future. My daughter was finally diagnosed with a chromosomal abnormality which was a bit of a shock but when we read about it we saw that it really does explain a lot of the things above. For anyone in a similar position, the "Unique" charity website about genetic conditions is excellent and has really useful information booklets about all the (astonishingly many!) chromosome conditions.